Drowning In Her Sea
by fee93
Summary: Jax and Courtney just began their whirlwind romance. The bet is finally over, but there are many obstacles that lie in their way before they have a moment to breath, especially when Jax & Ned team up to re-open Chloe Morgan Designs.
1. Time is money

Jax frantically paced back and forth in his apartment.

He recently bought a substantial number of shares of Babco Conglomerated Steel and the market was about to open. With just 2 minutes until trading began, Jax was a nervous wreck. This venture was hopefully going to help fund a new project he was working on with Ned Ashton. During a brainstorming session, Ned and Jax decided to re-open Chloe Morgan Designs and expand the line to cover interior decorating and home furnishings. With some extra capital in their pockets, they would be able to get this idea off the ground. In the meantime, they had purchased a luxurious office space to bide their time.

One minute until the market opened. Jax anxiously sat down at his laptop, pulled up the Dow Jones web page and firmly pressed down on the refresh button.

Nothing

He waited a few more seconds and pressed it once again.

Nothing.

Breathing deeply, with sweat beginning to bead on his forehead, he was reaching for the refresh button a third time when his cell phone rang, startling him. He let it ring a few times before glancing over and saw "Lady Jane" appear on the Caller-ID. He contemplated letting his voicemail pick up since the market opening was mere seconds away, but grudgingly picked up the call.

"Hello?" Jax grumbled.

"Good morning dear. Do I ever have some great news for you!"

Jax glanced down at his desk clock and noticed it was already one minute passed the opening bell, but sat back down at his desk.

"Mom, not to sound short with you or anything, but do you think I could call you right back? I'm in the middle of a large business transaction."

"Oh sweetie, this will only take a minute of your time."

"So, tell me mom, what is this great news of yours?"

Jax looked down at his computer and considered refreshing one more time, but decided to wait until Lady Jane finished telling Jax the good news.

"You are never going to believe this," said a beaming Lady Jane.

"What am I never going to believe mom?" Jax emphasized.

"I received a postcard from your brother Jerry. He was in New Zealand but was on his way out of the county for, well obvious reasons."

"Mom, you know Jerry should not have written you. This created a direct trail to his whereabouts." exclaimed a furious Jax.

"Oh dear, you worry too much."

"Authorities could be monitoring your mail and this could lead them right to Jerry as we speak. I want you to burn that postcard and if anyone questions you about it, just act as if you never received any correspondence from Jerry. I would have expected Jerry to know he never should have made any contact with either of us since he's still at large from the FBI. I don't know why he would be this stupid."

He paused for a second.

"Wait a second. How do you know this was from Jerry? What did it say?"

"I don't know what you're getting at. Why would someone pretend to be Jerry? All he told me was that he was doing alright, lived in New Zealand for 6 months, got some extra work here and there and is getting by nicely."

"I just don't like the sound of this. Jerry knows better. He would never do this to either one of us. I just have a funny feeling about this." Jax cautiously said as he once again glanced down at the clock and realized five minutes passed.

Outside Jax's door, a package was delivered and placed by his doorstep.

* * *

Ned began rummaging through his keys to open up the newly purchased office that would hopefully house the re-established Chloe Morgan Designs.

"Thanks for meeting me down here Elizabeth. I'm really excited that you'd consider helping put Chloe Morgan Designs back on the map."

"Well, I was very close with Chloe when I worked with her before at L&B and she taught me a lot about the industry. Plus it will be fun to get back into my artwork. I've been pretty depressed after passing up on nursing school, so it will be nice to get my feet wet again."

"Your enthusiasm impresses me Elizabeth. Now we just have to hope Jax is able to come up with some extra cash for us to start expanding. We're going to have to open up some new plants in Europe, locate local and international buyers, and coordinate an impressive advertising campaign."

"You were very confident that Jax was going to pull through the last time we spoke. Do you think this is going to work out?"

"I've known Jax a really long time and he knows his way around this stuff. I was skeptical at first when he asked to go half on this with him, so I've got some money riding on this too. Speaking of which, let's see how much money we made this morning."

As he began dialing, Elizabeth picked Cameron up from his stroller and walked around the office building, pointing out all the hanging lights and windows that overlooked the pier.

"Jax, it's Ned. Where are you? Time is money. Call me back and tell me some good news."

He put his cell phone back in his pocket and pondered why Jax wasn't answering his phone. He watched as Elizabeth walked Cameron around the office and told her to check out the balcony from the back office. Ned, Elizabeth and Cameron walked past a few broken boards from what used to be the reception desk of the former company that occupied this space. They headed through the larger second office in the rear of the building, which lead out to a spacious balcony that overlooked the waterfront and the city below.

"Look at all those people down there. They look so small. Look over there Cameron; it's the park we go to. Do you see the swings?" Elizabeth cheerfully exclaimed as she pointed Cameron's finger in the direction of the park.

"He's such a cute little boy," a smiling Ned said as he waved to Cameron, who was still pointing in the direction of the park. "This is such a great age. They are old enough to start actually being people, but not old enough to start talking back to you."

Elizabeth laughed just as Cameron started to get fussy and wanted to be put back down in his stroller

"You can never tell what this little guy wants. But, I think we're going to have to go now. We have Mommy & Me today and we want to be late for Miss Rachel. He just loves finger painting. I think it runs in the family," Elizabeth chuckled.

"Thanks again for coming. I hope we can start doing something soon or else this office is just going to go to waste and I'm going to be out of a lot of money! Jax better know what he's doing this time. We all have a lot riding on this." Ned said optimistically, as he walked Elizabeth and Cameron out the front door.

* * *

Jax hung up from Lady Jane when he heard a knock on his door.

"Not now," Jax furiously said as he began to walk back to his computer.

"Jax, it's me," said a familiar voice as Jax sat down at his desk again.

He got up and opened the door to find a smiling Courtney holding a box in her hand.

"This was on your doorstep. But you seem to be pretty wrapped up with something else in here. Did I come at a bad time?" she questioned as she handed him the mysterious box.

"It's nothing. Come in. I just got off the phone with my mother and - it's nothing really. Just some family problems."

"So is that an 'I'm not going to ever tell you' secret or is an 'I'm not going to tell you until you ask me again what's wrong' secret?"

"Sorry for being so brief. It's my brother Jerry. You know he's on the run. Well, he supposedly contacted my mother and she was just so excited about it she had to call me first thing this morning."

"What do you mean supposedly? You don't think that was him who sent it?"

"I really don't know. He would never do anything like this, leaving a trail for the FBI to track down. He's much smarter than that."

"It might be a cry for help. Do you think he could be in danger?"

"If he really had to get word to me that he was in danger or needed money, there are other, less traceable ways for him to get in contact with me. This is just not typical of his past behavior. But you know what, enough about me and my family affairs, what brings you by this morning?"

"Well, I was just going to stop by for a morning kiss before work, but I'd much rather find out what's in that box you're holding," as she glanced at the box in Jax's hands.


	2. What's in the box?

Courtney just stopped by Jax's apartment and came across Jax at a very tense moment. After passing along a package left at his doorstep, Courtney inquired about its contents.

"So, what are you waiting for?"

"Why are you so interested in my package?" he questioned.

Courtney laughed.

"What do you think I have in here? Maybe I'm an international spy and this is my assignment for the next case. Or maybe someone is out to get me and this is a bomb. Wait – do you hear that?

Jax held the box up to his ear and listened intently.

"Do you hear ticking Courtney?"

"Come on, be serious here. What's with the secrecy?"

"If you really want to know, then you can have the pleasure of opening it. Do you need a knife or are you able to handle it yourself?"

"Very funny," she snarled. "I'll be fine."

Courtney took the box over to the table next to Jax's laptop. He followed her with a foolish grin on his face and plopped down on the couch. She glanced over at a smiling Jax and then started ripping into the package. Without hesitation, she was able to tear through the outside box before stumbling upon another smaller box inside.

"Ah. Look what we have here. I wonder what this could be?"

She proceeded to open the smaller box and noticed that this one was a little tougher to open than the other. Grabbing a scissor she saw lying on the desk, she poked a hole into the outer flap and started ripping into the box. Suddenly, she stopped what she was doing.

Courtney sighed and looked at Jax with amazement, as Jax continued to sit there, smiling, and fully aware of what was inside the package.

* * *

Ned went back into the office space after walking Elizabeth and Cameron out when he heard his cell phone ring.

"Scorpio?" he said with confusion as he read the Caller-ID

"Hello?"

"Dad, its Brook."

"Hi sweetie. Why aren't you at school yet? It's already past 10."

"I had to stay home today dad. I don't think you'd understand, but I really need a huge favor from you."

"If your favor involves me writing a note to excuse you from school today, the answer is no. Since you won't tell me why it was so important to ditch your classes today, I'm just going to have to let you deal with this on your own and suffer the consequences."

"Fine. I gotta go."

"Wait," Ned exclaimed, but it was too late. Brook already hung up the phone.

She slammed the phone down and let out a deep sigh.

"Great, now I have to make up some phony excuse and hope they buy it tomorrow.

She sat back down on the couch in the Scorpio home. Felicia and Mac were generous enough to allow Brook to continue staying at the house since Maxie was away at college. After turning on the TV and hastily flipping through the channels, she heard someone at the front door knock, so she quickly turned off the TV and tiptoed to the door.

"Brook, it's me. You there?" whispered a deep male voice.

Brook opened the door to find Lucas, dressed in cargo jeans and a button down shirt with his collar straight up. She planned to ditch school together with Lucas, but he was not alone.

* * *

Elizabeth drove up to the building where her Mommy & Me class was held and noticed all the mothers were lined up outside the door. Elizabeth unlatched Cameron from his car seat and went to join the other mothers.

"What's going on here?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Miss Rachel called in sick today and there's no one to fill in for her," one mother said.

"We've been trying to get them to open the doors, but they're being stubborn about it. Apparently, they need a so-called "licensed teacher" to assist the children. I guess they don't consider the mothers to be responsible enough," another mother chimed in.

"Well that's silly. But I guess if they aren't going to budge, I might as well take Cameron to the park. You're all invited to come join us over there if you'd like."

Elizabeth went back to her car and put Cameron back into his seat and told him they were off to the park and gave him a bottle to tide him over. None of the other mothers planned to join them but as they were pulling away, all the other mothers decided to call it a day and headed back to their respective cars. On the way to the park, Elizabeth's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Miss Webber. I am so sorry to bother you. It's Miss Rachel from the Port Charles Y"

"Hi Miss Rachel. I hope everything's okay. We just left the parking lot to head back home."

"I was hoping to catch you before you left. I'm calling everyone up to let them know they can have a make-up session in two hours in room 3 with our Pre-school class. The children are a little older, but Miss Judy will accommodate my class this afternoon. Would you be interested in attending?"

"Absolutely. I was just taking Cameron to the park now, but we'll swing back afterwards. Thanks for calling."

Elizabeth looked at her rear-view mirror to check on her son and glanced upon a heavy-lidded Cameron ready to close his eyes at any second. She refrained from telling him about the change of plans and continued to head off to the park. Once they arrived, she spied on her sleeping baby boy but let him continue to sleep. She looked out at a playground filled with mothers and their children, enjoying this bright, crisp sunny day, and basked in the glory of motherhood.

* * *

Courtney looked at Jax with stunned amazement.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he smirked.

"I can't believe you would do something like this for me."

She lifted out a large metallic globe paper weight, encrusted with a sparkling diamond name plate that read "Courtney Matthews" in bold, italic letters.

"Jax, this is gorgeous. I...I don't know what to say."

"Open it up."

She looked puzzled.

"Twist off the top and you'll see."

A still perplexed Courtney twisted off the top half of the globe, only to find a set of keys buried inside the hollowed out globe. Courtney glanced over at Jax and then back at they keys and noticed the key chain had the initials CW.

"Are these keys mine?"

"They're yours if you want them. Move in with me and I'll give you the world."


	3. Surprise visitor

Courtney was completely shocked that Jax would ask her to move in with him.

She sat there for a few seconds digesting what just unfolded and kept glancing back between the keys in her lap and an anticipating Jax.

"So what do you say? Ready to take the plunge?"

"This is all too fast." She paused. "We just had sex for the first time and only have been on a few dates. You know I have a great time when we're together, but I think this might be a little too soon don't you think?"

"How long have we been 'together'? A few months now?"

"But that was all about the bet Jax and you know it."

"Well, when you kissed me, it sure didn't seem like you were in this just for the money."

Courtney smirked.

"Jax, this is serious. You asked me to move in with you. Are you sure you want to do this or does this happen to be just another one of your impulsive moves?"

Upon hearing the words "impulsive moves", Jax quickly turned and checked his clock and finally realized he never had the chance to check how his stocks were doing. Jax rushed over to his laptop, jumping over the coffee table in front of his couch and furiously began refreshing his screen.

"What just happened? Is everything alright?" Courtney inquired.

"I got so distracted before, a good distraction if I may add. Just some business stuff to take care off before it's too late."

Courtney leaned her hand on top of his shoulder as Jax stared intently at his computer screen.

"I knew it. I knew this would happen," he sighed.

Jax got up from his computer, walked to the other end of the room, gritted his teeth, and clenched his fist. He turned back around and approached Courtney.

"How important is it for you to be in the office today?"

"What's wrong?"

"I have to drive down to New York City as soon as possible. Do you think you can cut out for the rest of the day?"

"I have to stop by and drop off some acquisition papers but I don't think the place will fall apart without me. I can have someone fill in for me."

"Great. How long are you going to need? I'll just meet you down there."

"Probably just about 15 minutes. Should I go pack something for tonight?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I'll answer your question once you explain what the heck is going on," Courtney smirked.

"How about this? After I pick you up, we'll grab some coffee and donuts and I'll explain the whole long and sordid story on our way down to the city?"

"You drive a hard bargain but I'll let you off easy this time. And don't think I forgot about the whole moving in thing. We'll have plenty of time to take care of that."

Courtney walked towards the door when Jax stopped her in her tracks.

"What about the kiss you promised me when you first got here?"

Courtney slowly turned around, paused for a second, then walked up towards Jax and wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him in for a hot, smoldering kiss. Jax slowly caressed her hair, continued to lean in and tilted his head to the side, as they both remained in a passionate embrace. Courtney gradually pulled away, gave one last smile and turned away before opening the door.

"Don't be late." She exclaimed.

* * *

Brook was stunned to find Maxie standing outside the front door next to Lucas.

"I thought you were going to wait for us?" said a stunned Brook.

"Listen, my mom or dad isn't home right?"

"No, the coast is all clear, although my dad knows I ditched school today but I don't think he'll cause any trouble."

"Ok. Good. I don't want anyone knowing I'm back in town. Not even Georgie."

All 3 of them walked into the house, while Brook remained behind Lucas and Maxie and tried to figure out why Maxie returned home.

"So what's your deal? You called up Lucas yesterday and told him you were in trouble and he said he'd drive to Albany this morning with me. Yet, you mysteriously showed up at your own doorstep, even though you don't want anyone in your family to know what's going on."

"Here's the deal. I don't know how much Lucas told you, but last night I found my roommate Tara was getting beat up by her much older boy friend. I tried to get her to speak to me about it, but she told me to leave it alone and then stormed out of the room. About 15 minutes later, he starts banging on the door and threatened me that there was nothing going on and if I say something to anyone, he was going to make sure one of his 'boys' makes sure I pay for it."

"Once I realized how serious this was, I knew that Maxie shouldn't stay there overnight so I emailed her the train schedule and told her I would pick her up as soon as she got in. Luckily I was staying at my dads while he was working overnights this week, so I snuck out at 3:30 and we've been driving around until now," Lucas explained.

"I really need to take a shower and wake myself up. I haven't slept a minute all night. I just wanted to get as far away from there as possible. You two will be all right down here?"

"Sure thing. I do know this house as if it was my own," Brook chuckled.

Maxie picked up her overnight bag and went upstairs while Lucas and Brook sat down on the living room couch.

"So what do we do now?"

"Maxie doesn't want any of her family to know about this so I'm not sure there's much we can do."

"If she's in that much trouble, she probably should try to find a new roommate."

"I don't know how easy that is Brook. Everyone just moved in so I doubt there's going to be an open spot anytime soon."

"So maybe we just have to get her roommate to move. Let her try to find a new place."

"And how do you plan 'we' go about doing that?" Lucas inquired.

"Easy. We just have to get her kicked out."

"By we, do you mean you and I?"

"Of course," exclaimed an ecstatic Brook, as a huge light bulb went off over her head.


	4. Million dollar question

Lucas began questioning Brook on her plan to help Maxie out of her roommate situation.

"Have you thought any of this out? I don't think you realize what you're getting yourself into."

"What? You think we should let some loser get away with threatening Maxie? No way, especially since he's beating up a helpless girl."

"But that's the thing. If he's beating up his girlfriend, someone he supposedly cares about, don't you think he's going to want to beat up some virtual stranger that gets him in trouble?"

"So, we just have to make sure we don't get caught."

"You have to backup here Brook. What's this about getting caught? What exactly do you have in mind?"

"We just have to set up her roommate so she's kicked out of her dorm."

"Let me repeat myself again. What could we possibly do that could get her kicked out of the dorm? Isn't it much easier if we convince Maxie to tell her folks and bring the police in on this?"

"Where would the fun be in that?" Brook said slyly as the wheels started turning in her head.

"You've got to stop with this crazy idea. For one thing, it's not going to work and don't even get me started on Maxie giving us the heads up. She's the one who's got to live with Tara, not you or me."

"So what are we supposed to do? We can't tell Felicia or Mac, the police are out of the question. Are we supposed to reason with this guy ourselves?"

"Maybe it might be easier if we try to get Tara to get help on her own."

Brook Lynn sighed.

"You know, I don't know how we even got dragged into all of this."

"Well, Maxie is my cousin and we've always had a tight relationship growing up. When I needed help in school, she helped me out. And I've returned the favor when she needed someone to be there for her. I don't know what I could do now, but I've got to give it my best shot."

"I don't know if I've told you this often enough, but you really are a great guy. Sorry if I sounded pissy, but I don't think there's much we can do without telling someone."

"Why don't we forget about this for now? Maxie will be down in a few minutes, so why don't we have some time to ourselves?" he said with a foolish grin.

"What a way to change the subject. You are such a guy," she chuckled.

Lucas proceed to caress Brook Lynns arm and then wrapped his left arm around her and drew her in for a kiss. The 2 fell to the couch and started heavily making out. Lucas continued to kiss her and then moved down to the crook of her neck while Brook grabbed a hold of him tightly, As she started to gently manuver herself on top of him as Lucas sat their on the couch, both heard the door upstairs shut and quickly parted ways as to avoid being caught by Maxie.

Maxie hastily ran down the stairs, looking refreshed as ever, while Brook and Lucas fumbled on the couch trying to make their makeout session seem less inconspicious. Both out of breath, Brook quickly grabbed the remote to try to drown out the heavy breathing and hopefully alleviate this awkward tension.

"What's going on guys? You don't have to hide from me. Lucas already told me about you two," Maxie blurted, as she leaned up against Mac's desk.

"Sorry about that," Lucas gasped as he tried to compose himself.

"We were just talking and then sort of got sidetracked. But we did come up with a few ideas to help."

"Don't get ahead of yourself Brook. They're still a little out there."

"Enough with the secrecy guys. What are your ideas?"

"We were thinking-"

"There you go with the we again," Lucas huffed as he interrupted Brook midsentance.

Brook glared at Lucas.

"As I said...we were thinking, all we have to do is find a way to get your roommate kicked out so you wouldn't have to move." Brook explained.

"And how does one get their roommate kicked out?" said a confused Maxie.

"That's the million dollar question." Lucas said, as all 3 of them pondered how they're going to pull this off.

* * *

Courtney just arrived at Pride Phillips to drop off the accqusition papers to one of her assistants. She quickly hurried into her office to make sure her schedule was clear for the day and jotted down a few notes to pass on to Lane Fleisher, the head office manager. As she was heading out the door, the phone rang. Courtney hesitated answering, hoping that her receptionist would pick up, but of course, no one was around so she quickly ran to the phone on her desk.

"Hello, Pride Phillips. This is Courtney Matthews."

"Courtney, it's Ned. I'm glad I got a hold of you. Is Jax around?"

"He's not here right now, but will be in a few minutes."

"I've been trying to get in touch with him for the past 20 minutes but his cell isn't picking up."

"I was just over at his place. He was in a rush to go to New York, although I don't even know the half of it. I can have him get back to you when he gets here if you want," Courtney said, as she was obviously ansty about getting out of the office.

"That doesn't sound good. Just tell him I called and he can try me at L&B later if he wants."

"I'll give him the message. Take care."

Courtney quickly hung up the phone and jetted out the door. She told Lane that if there was an emergency to call her cell phone. She dodged questions about her plans for the day, epecially considering she didn't even know the whole story yet. She stood outside her office doors and checked her watch wondering why Jax was late.

Meanwhile, on the docks, Jax is rushing down the stairs on his way to Pride Phillips when he stumbles accross the queen of darkness herself.

"Why hello Mr. Jax. It sure has been a long time since our paths have crossed," said a deliciously evil Helena, who smirked towards an uneasy Jax.


	5. Ready to go?

"You seem surprised to see me."

"I make it my life's mission to avoid anything Helena Cassadine related. Now, if you would--"

Jax motioned to Helena to move out of the way, but walked around to her right and started walking up the far staircase on the docks, closer to the Pride Phillips offices.

"Which one of your latest conquests are you off to see now?" Helena bellowed.

Jax stopped dead in his tracks.

"It can't be that insipid twit Chloe. She's a mere rotting carcass by now. What about Luke's latest Laura substitute? What's her name? Sun? Moon? Oh yes, Skye Quatermaine. Poor thing. To be kicked to the curb just minutes after marrying her. I thought you had more tact than that Jax."

Jax turned around and walked down the stairs towards Helena.

"How could I forget about Sonny Corinthos's bastard sister? Isn't that the one you're seeing now? I can't imagine he'd be too supportive of this relationship. But then again, you have always been the charmer. I bet you have her eating out of the palm of your hands."

Jax walked closer to Helena.

"What do you want Helena? I'm not in the mood to get into this with you now or ever."

"Can't some old friends have some time to catch up? I'd ask you out for a drink but it appears you seem to be in a rush. Where's the fire?"

"If I had my wishes, you'd be the one burning at the stake in the center of town for everyone to see and spit on your burnt corpse." Jax sternly refuted and began walking away again.

"I love it when you talk dirty to me."

Jax stopped for a second, shook his head in disgust and continued back up the stairs.

"It was nice running into you again. Let's make this more of a habit."

Jax was out of sight before Helena could finish, but that didn't stop Helena from continuing.

Helena gracefully walked towards the pier and started dialing her cell phone.

"Pick me up at the Elm Street pier. We're going on a little trip."

* * *

Lucas, Brook and Maxie were throwing around ideas on how they'd be able to handle Maxie's roommate's situation.

"Here's another. What if we throw a party and have Tara get caught with alcohol. Would they kick her out for that?

"Nah, they'll just give her a fine and put her on probation."

"Hey, does her boyfriend go to school there?"

"Don't think so Lucas. He looks like he's 25! I don't even know how they got together. They've only been dating 3 weeks now from what I know."

"What 25 year old dates 18 year old girls right out of high school? Sounds like a scumbag to me." Brook said, as she got up from the couch and walked over to the desk where Maxie was leaning against.

"He is. He's a major creep. I don't know what he's doing hanging out on a college campus."

"What else do you know about him?"

"That's pretty much it Brook. I've only seen him twice because Tara always goes to his place. He must live close by."

"I have an idea. What if we send the campus police an anonymous tip to check out that guys place? Maybe they'll find something incriminating?"

"That's ridiculous. What if there's nothing to find? He'll just get angry and come after me. He'll suspect something is up."

"Okay, I think we have to stop thinking about trying to get either of them in trouble. We have to do something simple or how about, here's a thought, bring your parents into this Maxie."

"If I tell them Lucas, they'll want me to transfer back to PCU and I don't want to be anywhere near Port Charles."

"I think it'll be much easier if we get them involved. Do you really think the guy is going to come after you if you report him?"

"Yes!" Maxie said emphatically. "He already threatened me once. Who's to say he won't keep his word?"

Maxie got up from the desk and walked over to Lucas.

"Listen, I know I'm being a pain here, but I just want to try and do something on my own. The last thing I want is to get my mom and dad involved with this. Would you mind coming up to school and maybe we can work out something there?"

"I really don't know what I can do, but I'll try."

Lucas stood up from the couch and walked towards Brook with Maxie following.

"You coming?"

"Sure. I'm already in the middle of this so I guess it won't hurt to tag along," said an obviously agitated Brook.

All 3 of them left the Scorpio house and walked to Lucas's car, unaware Maxie left her overnight bag in the middle of the living room.

* * *

Courtney was anxiously waiting for Jax outside her office. Just as Courtney started to call him, Jax came rushing around the corner.

"Sorry about that. I had an unfortunate run-in with an old business associate on the docks. But I'm here. You ready?" Jax said with a beaming smile, as he tried to catch his breath.

"If by ready you mean 'Ready to hear what this urgent trip to NYC is all about', then yes!"

"Come on, I've got your favorite donuts in the car, but they are not nearly as delicious as you are."

"You can retire those cheesy lines Jax. I'm already coming with you. No need to try and butter me up!"

Jax picked up Courtney's bags and they both walked through the docks and headed towards Jax's car. As Jax was loading the car, Courtney remembered that Ned called.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Ned called me earlier looking for you. He said something about your cell phone being down."

"Damn, I knew I forgot something. Can I borrow your phone for a minute?"

"It'll cost you."

"I'm very good at repaying my debts," Jax grinned, as Courtney handed him her cell phone.

Jax dialed Ned's number as Courtney jumped into the passenger seat of Jax's car.

"Hello?"

"It's Jax. I totally forgot about getting back to you. It's been hectic all morning."

"So tell me, what's the deal? Courtney said you're going to NYC now? What's going on?"

Jax turned away from the car and whispered softly so Courtney wouldn't hear.

"Yeah, we have a problem. Seems like someone bought out Babco Industrial this morning and our stocks are seemingly worthless at the moment."

"You have got to be kidding me?"

"I'm afraid not. That's why I have to go down to NYC and settle this and try to salvage as much money as I can before it's too late."

"How is going down there supposed to help us out? Can't you do something like this over the phone?"

"Normally, but I want to meet the illustrious new owner of the company and since I own a majority of their stock, it's only fair I voice my concerns about the change in management."

"So basically, you have no clue what you're doing."

"You're in good hands Ned. I'll try to work something out that will mutually benefit us in the long run. Don't worry; Chloe Morgan Designs is still on the table. And on that note, I've got a long drive ahead of me. I'll keep you informed."

Jax hung up from Ned and jumped into his car. Courtney was busying playing with the radio when Jax came in.

"Hey! I like that station!" Jax exclaimed.

"Christian rock? I hardly buy you as the worshipping kind." Courtney turned the station again. "This better?"

Jax shook his head. "Is that the kind of music they played back in Jersey?"

"HaHa," Courtney sneered.

"It'll do for now," Jax said, as he firmly pressed on the gas and the two of them set off for NYC.


	6. This is surprising!

Elizabeth and Cameron left the park to head back to the Port Charles Y for the makeup class Miss Rachel promised Elizabeth earlier. The parking lot was packed, but on the 3rd drive around, Elizabeth was able to find a spot in the far right corner. She unlatched Cameron from his carseat and put him in his stroller, grabbed his diaper bag and headed towards the classroom.

The hallways were overly crowded due to the doubling up of Miss Judy's class. Elizabeth noticed a few mothers from her Mommy & Me class, but they were all very anxious for the doors to open, so neither of them happened to notice Elizabeth and Cameron walked in. The children from the older class were a good year to a year and a half older than Cameron, all walking and talking up a storm. Just as the doors were about the open, Cameron started crying loud enough for the entire line of mothers to turn around and take notice. Elizabeth brushed them off and gave Cameron a bottle while waiting for the rest of the mothers to walk into the room.

This room was different from Elizabeths usual classroom. There was a low-rise balance beam set up in the back of the room and other child-friendly gymastics equipment, far more advanced for Cameron. Elizabeth walked Cameron around, pointing out the different toys and murals on the wall and mentioned that one of the cartoon figures on the wall was the same one that she painted in his room at home. Once the parents began to settle down, Elizabeth parked Camerons stroller with the rest of the strollers in the back and quickly joined the other mothers from Miss Rachels class up front. As she was sitting down, she placed Cameron in between her lap and had a clear view of the door when Alexis, Kristina and Ric walked in.

Ric's eyes locked immediately with Elizabeth's. They stared intently at one another for a good 5 seconds when Alexis suddenly realized who Ric was focused on. The 3 walked into the room, apparently late since everyone was already was in the room by the time they came in, but the class didn't start yet. Elizabeth tried to take her eyes off of Ric by talking to Cameron, but every time she turned towards Ric's direction, he was staring right back at her. After settling Alexis and Kristina in their usual seats, Ric hesitated for a moment, but casually walked over to Elizabeth and Cameron, who was busy crawling on the floor with one of his fellow classmates.

"This is surprising," said and obviously confused Ric, as he squatted down towards Elizabeth and smiled at her.

"Our class was canceled this morning, so we were called in for a makeup. I really had no idea you and Alexis would be here," Elizabeth calmly said, as she fidgeted with her hands to try and cover up her nervousness.

"I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable. That's the last thing I would ever want to do," Ric replied.

"Not at all. It just through me for a loop when I saw the 3 of you walk in together." Cameron crawled back towards Liz and plopped into her lap. Ric and Liz both simultaneously laughed.

Ric leaned down further towards Cameron. "Hey little buddy. Are you and your mommy excited for story time with Miss Judy?" Ric looked up back towards Elizabeth. "Wow. He's getting big. Last time I saw him he could barely crawl."

"I know. One day he's a newborn who just sleeps all day and the next he's crawling all over the place. He's growing really fast," Liz continued, while Cameron was firmly planted in her lap, as his eyes darted all over the room at the other children.

"Listen," Ric hesitated. "I know this may not be the right time to ask but I still have a lot of your stuff at our apar- I'm sorry," Ric apologized. "My apartment." Ric paused. "I kept hoping you'd stop by, but I could totally understand why you wouldn't. Would you like me to bring them over to Audrey's?"

"I'll save you the trip. Cameron and I can stop by later tonight if you're going to be around."

Ric enthusiastically shook his head in agreement "That would be great. I'll be home all night. I've got some work to take care of and you know me. It's much easier to get work done at home without all the distractions of the PCPD."

"Sounds like a plan." Elizabeth noticed Miss Judy was approaching her footstool in the center of the classroom. "Well, I hope you, Kristina and Alexis have fun today."

Pointing at a giggling Cameron, "You too. See you later," Ric replied, as he stood up and walked back to the opposite side of the room and joined Kristina and Alexis at their seats.

Elizabeth turned around once more and noticed Ric staring right back at her. Elizabeth shyly turned away as class was about to start.

"Welcome everybody. I see we have some friends visiting from Miss Rachels class. Let me introduce myself. My name is Miss Judy and I am so happy to see all your smiling faces here today!"

* * *

Felicia walked into her empty house, with 2 oversized shopping bags full of groceries. With the keys dangling from her hands, she clumsily dropped the two bulky packages on the desk closest to the door. Agitated, Felicia went back to close the door but wasn't able to get back to the desk in time before the top-heavy bags toppled over, spilling the contents all over the desk and the floor beneath.

"Just great!" Felicia exclaimed as she got on her knees and began picking up the groceries. Ducking her head under the table, she was able to grab the frozen entrees that spilled out on the floor. "What's this?" Felicia picked up a package of Chinese Noodles. "I didn't buy this. How did this get in there?" Felicia continued to examine the package and noticed the expiration date. "March 15, 2004? I definitely don't want this now!"

Felicia finished picking up the rest of the groceries and secured them firmly on the table. She picked up one bag at a time to bring into her kitchen, to ensure she wouldn't have to go through this struggle again. On her second trip back from the kitchen, she brought with her a large trash bag, so large, that she kept knocking over all her ornaments and picture frames on her shelf.

"Oh shucks! Look at this mess now!", as she slammed the garbage down and rearranged her shelves. She glanced over to Mac's desk and saw the expired Chinese Noodles and tossed them inside with the rest of the trash. She did a quick glance around the room as she was tying the bag shut. "I told you not to eat in the living room," she said to herself as she walked over to pick up Brooks leftovers from breakfast. Sweating in aggravation, she picked up the garbage bag and began walking towards the door. Not being able to see exactly where she was doing, she started walking towards the wall closest to the foyer. As she slowly made her way across the room, her walk was put to a sudden stop when she came crashing down, spilling the contents of the garbage bag all over the floor as Felicia screamed in astonishment.

With her head buried in the trash, "What was that?!! What in the-" Felicia turned around, still lying on the floor, and saw Maxies overnight bag at the base of her feet. "How in the world did that get there?" Felicia lifted herself up from the floor, still covered with bits and pieces of garbage, picked up the bag and brought it to the desk.

"Is Maxie home?", she said as she opened the zipper. "It's all her clothes!" She turned around and walked towards the stairs. "Maxie!! Maxie Jones, if you're home, get down here now!" Silence. She walked back over to her bag and looked through it again. "If Maxie's home, where could she be?"


End file.
